Former Republican National Committee (RNC) communications director Douglas Heye on Wednesday said President Trump’s remarks about the violence in Charlottesville, Va., make it difficult to make the case that minorities should vote for GOP candidates.
“After that Trump press conference, I don’t know how I can tell any minority why they should vote Republican,” Heye said.
“I’ve asked the press offices at both the White House & RNC to remove me from their email lists,” he added.
During remarks Tuesday in Trump Tower, Trump appeared to defend white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. He said there were some “very fine people” among those protesting.
{mosads}”George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So, will George Washington now lose his status?” Trump said Tuesday. “Are we going to take down … statues to George Washington?”
Trump made the remark in a heated news conference, in which he defended himself against bipartisan criticism that he was too slow and equivocal in condemning white nationalist groups after a man allegedly drove his car into counter-protesters in Charlottesville, killing one woman and injuring many others.
In the press conference, the president sparred with reporters and criticized the “alt-left” for being “very, very violent” in confronting white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.